Chapter two: Nerd Alert
"Oh, Lou! I'm so proud of you!" Kelly said happily as we exited the school doors.
I just stared at my shoes. A group of girls that passed us smiled at me when I looked up. They were juniors.
"I mean saying all those stuff about MaCintosh. Everyone heard every single word you said!"
"Shut up, will ya?" I snapped, clutching my bag tightly. "Why are you so excited all of a sudden? Weren't you the one telling me to zip my mouth in the first place?"
"Yeah, but you just created history!" Kelly laughed. "Angela was looking for you after you left the cafeteria. I told her you were hiding in the toilet."
My jaw dropped. What! How could she! Not that I'm scared.
"You know I didn't," Kel rolled her eyes. "If I did, she wouldn't do anything to you anyway."
"It's no big deal, ok?" I muttered under my breath. "Let's just forget about it."
"But I'm still proud of you!" She gave me a little hug and then left me for Brian.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Dinner was so quiet that night. Uncle Simon and Aunt Laura had to attend a function somewhere. Raymond was not home. No wait. He was in his room. I could hear him groaning every now and then. He probably had stomach problems.
I finished my last slice of pepperoni pizza and headed upstairs to my room. It was late. I decided to read a book and then sleep.
A few minutes passed. I tried to concentrate on my book "The Straw Men" but Ray's groaning was driving me nuts.
I knocked on his door. "Pig, are you okay?"
No answer. I frowned.
"Pig, are you okay?" I repeated.
Still no answer. Fine, I'm coming in.
I opened his door and found Ray laying face down on his bed.
"Hey, what's up?" I shook him gently.
"Hurts," he simply said.
"Let me guess. You ate something wrong again?"
"Sort of," he replied. "It was the milk."
I didn't get it. But then I remembered that Ray had 6 bowls of cornflakes this morning. The milk was a bit off. I did warn him. But he just kept on eating.
"Lou, help me…."
"Aw…come on! Get up and do something yourself!"
"Please!"
I threw him a dirty look. After all these years, I was still the one looking after Ray. When we were young, I had to look out for him, just because I was older than him by two months. When we meet new people, they always assumed that I was his baby sister. But the truth was Ray was the baby. He was not as tough as you think he is.
"Dung beetle please…." He pleaded.
I finally softened at this.
"Okay, I'll get you something warm to drink and some pain killers," I gave in.
He immediately sat up.
I sighed. Yup. The name Pig suited Ray. He eats like one. He gobbles everything down at once. And then asks for more. Gets sick and then expects me to nurse him back to health so he can eat again.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
By the time I went to bed it was almost eleven. I tried to sleep but I couldn't. I listened to King barking at our neighbours' cat. The street lights outside made my room glow in the dark. I turned to the picture on my bedside table and found a girl looking happily back at me. That was Ally. I was by her side. Ray took that picture when we were 10 while we were on a visit at the zoo.
I muttered good night to her and dozed off….
I was in a maze. More like a garden maze. There were bushes all around me. There were also many tiny green men, about the size of my thumb. They looked like goblins. They had really big noses and sharp claws. They were chasing me. I ran and ran and came to a dead end.
There was someone else there.
A guy who had a mask on held a large axe in his hands. His eyes were a beautiful green. He positioned the axe higher, directly above my head. I knew he was going to crack my skull. So I turned and tried to run the other way. But the tiny green men had me cornered.
I turned really pale. God! Why was everyone trying to kill me? I closed my eyes and prayed.
As I was preparing myself to face death, I felt someone pulling against my arm. My eyes fluttered open. I blinked a few times and then noticed that the tiny green men were gone! The guy with green eyes pointed around him.
I stared at the axe guy in amazement. He saved my worthless life! And I thought he was a murderer! Oh, lucky, lucky me! The axe guy looked damn hot in his green superhero outfit. He looked like Superman except he didn't have the red underwear. Axe guy was definitely fit. Hmm… I wonder what his face looked like under that mask.
Then I got my wish. He took me in his arms and started to take off his mask. That's when I started shouting for my life….
Guess who axe guy was?
MaCintosh.
Damn.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Ray had to wake me up with his banging the next morning. After having that horrible nightmare, I couldn't sleep at all. I went to the kitchen and had a light snack. By the time I went back to bed, it was 4 in the morning.
I was finally able to have a good rest when my freakin' cousin had to wake me up.
"Lou, come on! You're going to be late!" came the annoying voice.
"Leave me."
The banging got louder.
"Lou, wake up!"
"Leave me and my door alone, freak!" I threw my pillow against the door.
"Ok."
I heard my cousin retreating. I had won the battle!
I cast a glance at my alarm clock. I had 20 minutes left to get ready and have a good breakfast.
I forced myself out of bed and headed to the bathroom. My own reflection greeted me good morning. I looked awful. My hair was so out of place. I looked like a zombie or maybe worse. Zombies are nicer, I think.
I promised myself that today I would behave myself. I wouldn't want to get in trouble with psycho Jon.
Ray was cursing me the whole way to school. I was just a few seconds late. Honest.
"Need to copy Jo's homework again?" I asked innocently.
"No. I'm meeting Jon," Ray replied.
"Wha-"
"Yeah, get out will you?" he said impatiently. I didn't notice that the car had stopped.
"What for?" I demanded.
"None of your business. See you later," he said and went off.
I walked slowly. Why was MaCintosh haunting me? I arrived at my locker. Kelly wasn't there. I was a little disappointed. I placed my stuff inside and closed it. That's when I heard a familiar voice, a very girlish sort of voice. I tried to ignore it but then I heard my name. Not exactly my name. My erm… nickname in school.
"Nerd."
"What?" I said warily.
"Where are your manners, nerd?" It was Angela Stevens. The girl with overlarge boobs. Boobs bigger than Jupiter. 5 other girls stood behind her. They had big breasts too but Angela's were bigger. Clearly Angela was head of 'Boob Group'. She stood right in front of me.
"I think I left them at home. Why? You want some?" I said coolly. This is not the first time I got myself in a situation like this.
"Don't try to be smart, freak," Angela said in a warning tone.
"I am smart. Got a problem with that?" I challenged her. "I don't have time for this. I have to get to class."
I pushed her away. The other girls stared at me, shocked.
"Aw, surprised?" I said sarcastically. "Don't let her push you girls around, ok? Stand up for yourselves." With that I walked off.
"Nerd! Girls, go get her!" I heard Angela wail.
Nobody came after me. I knew that Angela and her gang weren't the nasty type. They just liked to act cool. That's all. It was MaCintosh who did the dirty work for her.
Oh, holy crap. MaCintosh.
I totally forgot about him…. I am so dead.
Thanks to Saeger, LcT514 and x-ms-poeticc for reviewing! I love you guys!